Boy, 4, not seriously hurt, but North Bergen driver, 82, charged with leaving scene after hitting stroller in Union City

UNION CITY — An 82-year-old North Bergen man was charged with leaving the scene of an accident after the car he was allegedly driving hit a 4-year-old in a stroller as the child was being pushed across the street by his mother.

The man was charged after a concerned citizen aided police in the investigation, officials said.

Emiliano Hernandez, 82, from North Bergen, was charged with driving without a driver’s license, driving an unregistered vehicle and leaving the scene of an accident, reports said.

At 8:20 p.m. Thursday, Officers P.J. Perez and Terrance Gordon were flagged down by a concerned citizen who took them to the northeast corner of 32nd Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard and showed them a crowd of people standing around a 4-year-old who had been involved in a hit and run, police said.

The woman was crossing the street with her son, who was in a stroller, when a 1998 blue Ford Explorer ran a red light, destroying the stroller, and causing the child to hit his head when he landed on the ground, authorities said.

A concerned citizen followed the Explorer in his car until he was able to write down the car’s license plate. The citizen then returned to the accident scene, officials said.

Perez and Gordon ran the license plate and eventually tracked Hernandez to his home, where he was arrested without incident, police said.

The 4-year-old was treated at the Jersey City Medical Center but did not suffer any serious injuries and was able to leave the facility Thursday night, reports said.